A cleaner who has been struggling to make ends meet since being furloughed has said she is left with just £150 to cover the family food bill after she has paid rent.
Deborah, 54, a cleaning manager, lives in Southport with her daughter. She was furloughed during the coronavirus crisis and asked for rent reduction after her income went down, which has left her relying on foodbanks to get by.
But Deborah said her landlady “went ballistic” after she asked to alter her rent payments to accommodate her change in circumstances, and now she could be facing eviction.
Deborah is one of more than 450,000 private renting parents who fear losing their home as a result of the coronavirus crisis, according to new research from Shelter. An estimated 227,000 adult private renters have fallen into arrears since the start of the pandemic, while Shelter’s research showed parents living in privately rented homes are almost twice as likely to be worried about homelessness than parents living in secure social homes.
This fear of homelessness will be heightened by the temporary evictions ban ending on 23 August. Evictions were put on pause so people could hold onto their homes during the pandemic, but in a few weeks’ time judges will no longer have the legal powers necessary to prevent Section 21 no-fault evictions or Section 8 evictions for rent arrears built up during the coronavirus crisis.
‘I worry about being homeless 24/7’
Deborah said she feels renters are “always one step away from eviction“.
She said: “My landlady keeps harassing me as she wants me out. I was furloughed, and I asked her if we could come to an agreement on the rent while we saw what happened. She went ballistic and demanded I pay it all. I’ve managed to keep paying in full but she’s still on at me to get out.
“When I’ve finished paying my rent and my bills, which are over £1,000, I’m left with £150 a month for food. I’m just working to pay the bills, that’s it.
“I’ve had to use foodbanks. There’s one at the end of my street. I’m trying my best to do everything I can to be a role model for my daughter but I’m rolling up at the food bank. And it’s because I can’t get a decent, affordable place to rent. I’m not asking for handouts, I’m just asking for a decent and affordable place to live. I worry about becoming homeless 24/7, day in, day out.”
‘It affects my sleep, it’s on my mind all the time’
Jeanny, 48, a furloughed retail worker who lives in Bournemouth with her three children, has been told to leave her rented home of four years by 4 October. Jeanny asked her landlord for some flexibility on paying her rent, but her landlord refused and has asked the family to leave the home they have rented for four years by 4 October.
She said: “It was a complete shock. I thought my landlord would at least say ‘let’s talk’ about the rent before threatening me with eviction, when I told her I couldn’t quite pay my full rent after my pay was cut. Before the pandemic, I’d always paid my rent on time every month for the four years we’ve lived here.
“Being under all this pressure is having a massive impact on everyone in the family. It affects my sleep, it’s on my mind all the time. I talk about it with my older children, and we try and work out where we can get the money from to top up the rent. I’m already buying cheaper food and looking for other ways to cut back. It’s incredibly stressful. I don’t want it to come to an eviction through the courts. I don’t want my children to go through that.”
Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said families are going hungry and “taking on risky debt to pay private rent”.
“These parents need a way out of living hand to mouth, but so far, the Government has offered them no alternative to private renting. This must change if we are ever going to build this country back better. By accelerating spending on social housebuilding, it can rapidly deliver the safe homes so many families are crying out for.”
A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesman said: “The Government has taken unprecedented action to support renters during the pandemic.
“We have put in place a support package to help prevent people getting into financial hardship or rent arrears and ensured no-one has been forced from their home this summer as a result of the pandemic,” the spokesperson said.
“New court rules will also require landlords to set out information about a tenant’s circumstances in light of the pandemic when bringing a possession claim.“
Over the next five years Government will invest £12bn in affordable housing, and has abolished the borrowing cap so councils can build more social homes, they added.
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